


Welcome to the Family

by FandomLastsForever



Series: Crime Dads Week [2]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Established Relationship, Family, Galaxy Railways AU, M/M, Returning Home
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-20
Updated: 2019-11-20
Packaged: 2021-04-03 17:42:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21497287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FandomLastsForever/pseuds/FandomLastsForever
Summary: Junior is worried when Roman doesn't message in weeks. But when Roman finally returns home, things start making much more sense.
Relationships: Junior/Roman Torchwick
Series: Crime Dads Week [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1549375
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	Welcome to the Family

**Author's Note:**

> Second entry for Crime Dads week. Kinda got hooked on the space trains again, so this is another one of those.

Junior couldn't handle the wait. It happened every mission. Same song and dance every time. Vega was called to duty. Roman would text him. He'd be left to wait wondering if he'd come home safe and sound. To be quite honest, he often wished Roman never took up that offer to join the SDF. Funny enough, there were rumors that being a member of the criminal underground was safer than protecting the railways. And sometimes he found himself believing those rumors.

He just prayed, hoping desperately, that Roman would come home.

"It's been three weeks," Melanie sighed. "When's Roman coming back, dad?"

"Yeah," Miltia agreed. "Isn't he supposed to be back from the Mistral system already?"

Junior shrugged. "Don't know girls. No idea at all."

Melanie and Miltia looked to each other, solemnly talking in unison. "Hopefully he's okay."

"I hope so too."

"Well hope no more!"

Everyone looked back towards the door, eyes wide and smiling brightly as Roman came striding over to them, hands behind his back and a cheeky grin on his face. He had a bandage on his cheek, but other than that, he was unharmed. Junior felt a wave of relief, all the tension in the last few weeks finally vanishing as the girls ran over and dragged Roman over to the counter by his coat.

"Welcome back, Roman!" the girls greeted.

"Mel. Mil. Good to see you." Roman smiled, holding up the bags he was hiding behind his back. "Brought back some souveniers from the Mistral system. Found some accessories that'd look delightful on you."

The twins took the bags, giving him a quick hug before hurrying over to a nearby table to take a look. "Thank you!"

"You spoil them too much," Junior chuckled, leaning over to give him a kiss. "It's good to have you back, Roman."

Roman smiled, giving him a light boop on the nose. "Good to be back, Hei. I missed you."

"How did the mission go? That was a little longer than usual."

And just like that, Roman's excited expression turned sour. Cold, almost heartbroken. It was only then that Junior finally got a good look at him. He wasn't wearing his usual mascara and eye liner, and his freckles, usually hidden beneath his concealed, were more pronounced than usual. He looked like he hardly slept. He reached out, lightly taking Roman's hands in his and looking into those beautiful green eyes.

"Roman?" he asked softly. "What happened?"

Roman let out a sigh and looked back toward the door. "You can come in, you know. I promise, they don't bite. Not unless there's danger."

Junior looked up. The girls turned their attention to the door as it opened. Slowly, a young girl poked her head in, and eventually made her way inside and closed the door behind her. She held a parasol close to her, almost as though she were preparing to use it as a sword. Her hair and eyes reminded Junior a lot of ice cream. Step by step, she walked over to the counter until she was right beside Roman, holding onto his coat sleeve tightly.

Roman put an arm around her, smiling softly. "Hei? Melanie? Miltia? I want you to meet the newest member of the family. Her name is Neo, and I'm her legal guardian as of today." He gave Neo a soft rub on her upper arm. "Go on, Neo. Say hello like we practiced."

Neo nodded, setting down her parasol and moving her hands in a quick, fluid motion. "Hello. I'm Neo."

The entire room went silent. No one knew how to react. Roman? A dad? For some reason the concept never crossed their minds. And now he comes back with a daughter. Not that Junior was against the idea. Not at all. But this was a little…strange.

There had to be more to this story.

"Girls?" he asked. "Can you show Neo to the apartments upstairs? Let her pick a room for herself?"

The twins nodded, putting their gifts back in the bags before going to Neo and holding out their hands to her. She flinched slightly, but after a moment, eventually accepted their welcome and began to follow them toward the back.

"I'll be there in a few minutes, okay?" Roman called back. He watched them leave, then turned back to Junior. "Okay, Baby Bear. You got questions."

"A lot of them," Junior said. "For starters…why you? And why now?"

Roman sighed, leaning on the counter and resting his head in his hands. "We ran into Vernal."

A jolt of fear ran through Junior's spine. Everyone knew the story of Space Pirate Vernal. No one who crossed her path ever survived. Only one person was said to have ever lived to tell her tale. Though now an entire platoon and a young girl have. That's sure to run through the underground fast, and he didn't even want to think of the reaction this would have.

"Vernal was trying to attack Neo," Roman continued. "And I got between them. Then Tuk and Qrow caught up and…well, Vernal retreated. Not after Neo and I got a few scrapes though."

"Why did Vernal attack her though?" Junior asked. "She's just a kid."

"A kid with really good skills." He smiled fondly. "Hei Hei, she's almost exactly like I was at her age. I think if she and I hadn't crossed paths with each other and the pirate, she'd overtake my throne as the criminal king."

Junior let out a low whistle. "That's…that's impressive."

"She's amazing, Junior. I honestly think you'll love her."

"I probably will. But…"

Roman let out a soft 'ah', nodding slowly. "You're wondering why I adopted her." He shrugged. "I guess I felt a connection there. A need to act. So I offered her a chance to come back to Vale. She could have run off anytime. But she didn't. And now, she's part of the family." He tilted his head, his bangs falling to the side to reveal the cybernetic eye, slightly whirring as it adjusted to the light. "If that's alright with you?"

Junior smiled, lightly brushing his fingers through those soft, ginger locks. "If she's alright with us, she's more than welcome to the family."

"Thank you," Roman chuckled, relaxing fully. "Thank you so much."

They stayed down in the club for a little longer, going over what had happened over the last few weeks before closing up shop and heading upstairs to the apartments to find the girls. When they arrived, the twins were sitting on the sofa watching some kind of drama. Neo, who had changed into a set of spare pajamas the girls had, was resting on Melanie's lap, sleeping under a blanket with a small smile on her face.

"Looks like she's settled in already," Junior whispered, wrapping his arms around Roman's waist.

"Yeah." Roman leaned into the touch, sighing contently. "Looks like the family is complete."

"Yeah. Yeah it does."


End file.
